


Saturday Morning Ritual

by wildglitterwolf



Category: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Genre: Biting, Cliff’s a kid at heart, Couch Cuddles, Fluff, Halloween, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, cartoons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27288976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildglitterwolf/pseuds/wildglitterwolf
Summary: Much to Rick’s annoyance, Cliff likes to spend his Saturday mornings watching cartoons.
Relationships: Cliff Booth/Rick Dalton
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Saturday Morning Ritual

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a month ago so it would be more than done by Halloween, but between arm injuries, lack of laptop access, and doing a Cliff!werewolf art challenge, I find myself trying to get this up at the last minute. So if the end feels like it ends abruptly, eh, that’s why. Anyways, hope you have a happy Halloween despite the year it’s been. :)

Cliff had been lying in that hospital bed for nearly two weeks. In that time he has eaten probably at least a couple dozen bagels and read nearly twice as many comics. Rick kept insisting on what he could do to make Cliff's life more bearable seeing as he and Francesa owed their lives to him, and he just gave him a list of comics and see if he could get whatever issues he’s missed in the last six months. Rick went above and beyond that duty.

“H-here. New crop for ya.” Rick sets about four issues and another bag of bagels besides Cliff’s bed. “Hope that covers you for today.”

“Well the nurse just told me before you came in I can probably get discharged tomorrow.”

“Oh… shit, really? Uh… that’s great, yeah. G-great.”

Cliff grabs an onion bagel from the bag and starts smearing cream cheese on it. “You don’t sound like it’s great.”

“I-it’s… i-i-i-it’s just that… well, Francesca is in the middle of packing and said she’s leaving tomorrow-”

“Huh? What for?”

“Oh, something about America being a dangerous place… a-and the fact I’ve spent more time at the damn hospital than home with her.”

“Well she ain’t wrong.”

“Yeah. Well, it was a m-mutual agreement. No hard feelings.”

Cliff just nods, trying not to show his excitement at the news. “Take it you’ll need me back in service for you?”

“Oh, um, y-yeah. Guess I can hire you again. And you can uh...m-m-move in, if you want.” Rick rubs the back of his head as he looks down at the ground, nervous that Cliff might turn on him and say what a shitty person he was for how he treated him.

Cliff takes a bite of his bagel, exaggerating his chewing as he does so while he pretends to think it over. “I mean. I hear on the news that people are hiring bodyguards after what happened to us.”

“Y-yeah.”

“And I mean, clearly I meet the credentials to be one so I don’t think people would question why I’m staying with you to give you 24/.7 protection.”

“G-guess not.”

Cliff narrows his eyes as he keeps chewing, really milking Rick’s guilt for all it’s worth even though his mind was made up back when he said Francesca was leaving. ‘Yeah, sure. I’ll move in.”

Rick looked up with the biggest grin on his face. “Alright!”

\---

Well Cliff picked the craziest day to be discharged. Not only did Rick have to deal with Francesca leaving, but apparently Sharon went into labor, and for some reason Jay thought it was important Rick be notified.

“Yeah, shit, crazy fucking day. I should have bummed a ride with them and save me a cab ride,” Rick muttered as he and Cliff sit outside waiting for their cab back.

“Think it’s best you just let them do their thing.” 

“Well Polanski is flying back. Wonder if I can score a meeting with him.”

“Man, I’m all for advancing your career but give them time with the kid first.. Maybe in a week or something.”

Rick huffs but knows Cliff is in the right. He sees the cab round the corner and waves it down, making sure to open the car door for Cliff to help him get in.

“Such a gentleman.”

“Oh, shut it.”

\---

Well, Rick did get that meeting with Polanski and didn’t have to even wait a week for it. The next thing Cliff knew, Rick was off to London for a week, leaving him alone to house sit. At least he wouldn’t be bothered for a while after having nothing but company for the past month everyday, which to be honest, did start to wear on his introverted self after a bit. Also, he’d get one day to enjoy something he’s recently made a tradition of sorts since he was back to living the bachelor life: Saturday morning cartoons.

When Billie died and he was free to do whatever the fuck he wanted to again, if Rick didn’t need him early Saturday morning (which, given Rick’s tendency to be hung over on a Friday night, was never), he’d get up at dawn, walk and feed Brandy, tinker with his bike, and then settle in with a big bowl of cereal and some Hanna-Barbera cartoons. He latched on to _Wacky Races_ last year and saw an ad in one of his comics that a couple spin-offs were being made. So on his last day alone before Rick came home, Cliff filled up a large bowl full of Wheaties and sat down to watch _Dastardly and Muttley_ and _The Perils of Penelope Pitstop_.

“Hey, girl. I’ll be done after this one, alright?” Cliff said to a bored looking Brandy on the couch since this was one of the rare occasions Cliff could steal Rick’s head chair. “Or you wanna watch the one after this, another one with a dog.”

Brandy just lets out a soft ‘woof’ and falls asleep.

“Ah, just one more then.” Cliff goes to get another refill on his bowl and comes back in time for the theme of _Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!_ to kick off.

“Well, shit. That’s a pretty damn catchy song there.”

Cliff got maybe a little too invested, yelling at the television that Mr. Wickles clearly was the black knight by the time the reveal happened.

“Man, it would be cool if you could talk for reals, girl.”

Brandy just kept on snoring.

\---

Rick was back in town by the time next Saturday rolled around. He was not aware of Cliff’s Saturday morning ritual, so when he cracked an eye open and saw Cliff had already left the bed, he tried to wrack his brain to remember if Cliff said he was going anywhere.

Then suddenly he realized he could hear the soft sounds of the television coming from the other room. The fuck would Cliff being doing watching the TV so fucking early? And on a Saturday, no less!

Grumbling, Rick went to grab his robe, annoyed that Cliff would dare leave him cold and alone in bed. He crosses his arms over his chest as he makes his way out to the den, eyes squinting as the view of Cliff comfortably on the couch eating his cereal, eyes glued to the TV came into view.

“Alright, Cliff. What the fuck could possibly have you up this early- are those fucking cartoons?”

“Yeah.”

“Jesus, I’m going back to bed.”

Rick turned around and shuffled quickly back to bed, not even bothering to take his robe off as he flops on the bed, pouting that his boyfriend would rather watch shit for kids instead of cuddling. He just lied there for almost an hour sulking before marching back out there. “Are you ever coming back to bed??”

Cliff looks up, trying not to let Rick’s annoyance make him crack a smile. “Why, let me just finish this was one, alright? Should be only about ten more minutes. Why don’t you join me?”

Rick huffs, but he flops down in his chair so he can make sure Cliff stays true to his word that after the show he will come back with him. “What the hell is this?”

“ _Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!”_ ”

“The fuck does that mean?”

“It’s the name of the dog.”

“Who the fuck names a dog that?”

Cliff shrugs as he starts scraping the last big of cereal from his bowl.

“Weren’t you eating that when I last came out here?”

“Yeah.”

“How long does it take you to fucking finish a bowl?”

“It’s called getting a refill.”

Rick tapped his fingers on the end of the armrest of the chair in frustration. “Is this almost over?”

“Seeing as I told you about ten more minutes a minute ago, should be about nine more minutes now.”

Rick growls a bit, his mind getting a little bit frantic. He tried watching the show, not knowing what the fuck was going on. There’s that dog Cliff mentioned, and then these four kids running around being chased by some guy in a glowing old-timey diving suit. Finally the glowing guy gets caught, and his helmet gets pulled off.

“Ah shit, I knew it was Captain Cutler!”

“Who the fuck is Captain Cutler?”

“The culprit for this episode. From the first two weeks it seems like these kids and their dog go around solving mysteries so I try to figure out who it is by the end with them.”

“So he’s not a regular?”

“Doubt it.”

“So heavy of the week. Guess this show would be perfect for me…”

“Hey…” Cliff shuts the television off and goes over to pull Rick up and bring him close. “Thought you were going to be a big time movie star now that you know the neighbors.”

“Don’t think Roman likes me much. Kinda felt like he got annoyed with me after a day.”

“Well screw him. Sharon likes you at least, right?”

Rick looks off to the side away from Cliff, recalling the night of the hippie attack. “Yeah. Yeah, she said I w-was a wonderful actor.”

“Well see then, there you go!” Cliff kisses the side of Rick’s head and goes to wash his cereal bowl out as Rick just stands there still lost in thought. Cliff usually took this as a sign that Rick’s mind was probably at war with itself over his self worth and something needed to be done before a meltdown occurred. “Hey, it’s already past eleven and best we not be lazy all day. How about a drive down PCH and then happy hour at Casa Vega? Sound good?”

Rick turns around to look at him. Moment of truth: will it be a breakdown or did it work.

“Yeah. Yeah, that s-sounds good,” Ricks says smiling.

Cliff felt that internal sigh of relief through his whole body.

\---

The following Friday was one of those nights Rick drank until he passed out for no particular reason other than he could. It also probably didn’t help that Cliff was down in Wilmington all day at Lions Drag Strip and didn’t get home until past midnight so there was no one to moderate Rick. Cliff found him asleep out in the pool, dragged the seat in with the net, and had to shake Rick awake so he would at least be able to get out of the pool for Cliff to help him to bed.

Rick finally cracked an eye open about a quarter to eleven the next morning, found Cliff missing, and then once again heard the television. The events of last week slowly creeped back to his mind, eyes squinting as he realized it was once again Saturday.

“Yaa wachin duh damn keed shows ah-gain??” Rick half shouted, half slurred as his mind wasn’t fully functioning. No reply, but Rick’s head hurt too much to try again.

Cliff appeared at the doorway sometime later, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed as Rick just lied there half asleep, his mouth slowly moving like a fish. “Ya alright there, partner?”

“Why you abandon me for talking dog?”

Cliff laughed out loud at the random accustation. “Funny. I’d ask you the same when you married Francesca, except for her not being a dog.”

“You know why.” Rick hides under the covers, annoyed or embarrassed, Cliff wasn’t sure. 

“Hey. If you wanna just be lazy today, you can. How about I cook you up some hangover food?”

“... Okay.”

\---

Rick had a plan by the next time Saturday rolled around. He was going to get up extra early and find a way to keep Cliff so entertained that he’d want to stay in bed. And oh, it was going to be too _easy_ that Rick’s kicking himself for not doing it last week.

“Mmm… whatcha doin’ there, partner?” Cliff mumbles as feels Rick not-so-gently feeling him up through his boxers.

“Thought maybe I could entertain you this morning, uhh… honeybun.”

Cliff was trying so hard not to burst out laughing at Rick’s attempt at terms of endearment and, as he obviously deduced, to keep him in bed today. The moaning was real, though.

“Oh, honeybun, huh? Mmm, that sounds like a pastry. Callin’ me a pastry there, Dalton?”

“Well you’re good enough to eat.”

If there was one thing Cliff didn’t ever want to admit to Rick, it was that Rick getting a little dominant was kinda a turn on for him. “Am I?”

“Shit, yeah.” Rick suddenly rolled on top of Cliff and started attacking his neck with kisses and bites that Cliff knew instantly were gonna leave a mark. Rick must assume what works on him would work on Cliff, and to be fair it does, but Rick does it about as gracefully as a newborn pup. But at least to Cliff this meant that the man chowing down on his neck wasn’t acting here as this was all pretty much raw emotion on his part.

“Didn’t realize I’m dating a vampire.”

Rick stops and glares at him. “The fuck does that mean?”

“You’re right, a vampire would be neater than that. Let’s go with a werewolf.”

“You hate this.”

“No, you just need practice. And I can teach you… when I’m done watching cartoons, and oh, I know this whole thing was a ploy to make me skip, you can’t fool me.”

Rick huffs and crosses his arms at being found out. Sometimes he could be so childish which Cliff knows he probably has no right to criticize Rick being when he himself wants to go plop in front of the television for a few hours. “You know, I’d love for you to join me.”

“It’s stupid kid shit, Cliff.”

“Well we all didn’t have a great childhood like you, apparently.”

“You know I didn’t, Cliff. You know I-”

“Yeah, I do. And shit, neither did I. So what’s the harm in trying to make up for that? Just give me my Saturday morning, man. You get me the rest of the week.”

Rick picks at his thumbnail, mulling the request over in his mind. “Can you pick up donuts?”

Cliff stared in disbelief that Rick would come around to his side without anymore persuasion, but his smile soon beamed nice and wide. “Now we’re talking.”

\---

“A dozen donuts, as requested. Look, they even got the Halloween sprinkles out already.”

“Still about a fucking month away.”

“Hey, as soon as October hits, it’s spooky season. Milk?”

“Already out.”

Cliff looks over to see Rick’s set up by the television which was already on and set to CBS. Two tall glasses of milk, a couple plates, and a pile of napkins were already waiting for them. He drops the donut box on the table and heads back to the bedroom to change back to his bed attire since Rick decided to stay in his.

Rick flips the box open to observe Cliff’s selection and scans until he finds the jelly filled he specifically requested. Suddenly Cliff’s remark at calling him a ‘vampire’ came back to him as he stared at the hole with the red filling still visible.

“I’ll show him I-I can do it carefully. I’m n-not a fucking werewolf,” he mumbles to himself. Rick gently bites around the hole and tries to suck the jelly out without breaking the skin of the donut. He wasn’t getting as much out as he thought he would so he starts adding a little tongue in to clean it out and-

“Should I leave you two alone?”

Rick jumps when he realizes Cliff is standing behind him, back in his boxers and carrying a pile of blankets. “Shit, shit, Jesus Christ, Cliff. Don’t s-scare me.”

“You know when I said you needed practice, I wasn’t exactly planning on having you really suck my blood dry.”

“Sh-shut up!” Rick takes an angry bite of the already powderless section of the donut,, his lips dusted with the sugar.

“Gonna stay in your chair or join me on the couch?””

Rick was between wanting to but also wanting to stick it to Cliff, and Cliff could see that. He leans down to kiss and lick the sugar off Rick’s lips to convince him to join.

“F-fine.. Prick.”

Cliff grins and moves the table closer to the couch so they could just lazily grab off it without having to get up and reach over. He spreads out on the length of the couch and opens his arms for Rick to crawl on top. Then when the actor is settled, he starts tossing the blankets over them until they are all bundled up.

Rick didn’t care about actually watching the shows so he pretty much just laid there on his stomach, occasionally munching on a donut. Cliff was more than focused on the television but he kept Rick satisfied enough with his right hand locked in Rick’s hair and a donut in his left, occasionally offering Rick a bite of his. Rick was so relaxed that once he finished his half of the dozen, he started to doze off a bit until he felt Cliff gently shake him.

“Hey man, Scooby is starting.”

“The fuck do I care?”

“Oh come on, you’ve at least seen some of it before. And look, it looks Western theme or something.”

Ricks sighs and rolls up enough so he can look at the television while letting out enough annoyed sounds to make sure Cliff knows he’s not pleased about being moved.

“Thanks, babe,” Cliff chuckles, giving Rick a kiss on the temple and a quick nip on his ear. That quieted Rick down until-

“It’s him. Hank.”

“You think so?”

“There’s only two people in this whole fucking town.”

“So you got a 50/50 shot.”

Rick would occasionally mutter ‘this is dumb’ or eyeroll depite never turning away from the television once it got started.

“What would you do for a Scooby Snack, Rick?”

“...Nothing? It’s dog shit.”

“I mean, the general concept of being bribed with food.”

“I’m out h-here because you brought fucking donuts, ain’t I?”

“Heh. Fair enough.”

The episode started to wind down with a chase until the Miner was caught and the reveal happened.

“There! Knew it was Hank.”

“Looks like you deserve a Scooby Snack.”

Cliff pulls Rick’s head back a bit so he can get some exposure on his neck, gently biting down and sucking slowly until he got the desired reaction out of Rick.

“F-fuck, Cliff. Th-that’s- that’s…”

“A better snack then some dog shit?”

Rick huffs and blushes, rubbing the spot on his neck. “Fine, I get your point about being too- uh, n-not good at this.”

“Well it is October. No better month to learn to get better.”

\---

“Saw Jay as I drove up. Gave me this.”

Cliff flings the small envelope into Rick’s lap where he was set up in front of the television, already to go with stuff for another Saturday morning. Rick picks it up and snorts as he reads who it’s addressed to. 

“The Dalton-Booths? Really?”

“I know. Booth-Daltons sounds better.”

“Oh, sh-shut it,” Rick says as a blush creeps up on his cheeks, not wanting to admit that he kinda liked the idea of it. He rips the envelope open and reads the card inside. “It’s a-a Halloween party.”

“When?”

“Uh, Halloween? Geez.”

“Hey man, not everyone has it on the day seeing as it’s not always the weekend.”

“Well it’s a Friday this year.”

“Guess we’ll need costumes. Well, I actually might already have mine.”

“What?”

“It’s a surprise,” Cliff says with a wink as he drops the donut box he once again picked up on the table and goes to get changed.

Rick couldn’t even think about when he last went to a costume party, or even wore a costume at all that wasn’t on set. He flipped the donut box open and saw his old friend the jelly from last week, deciding maybe he could see if Cliff could pick out a vampire costume or something next time he was out. After all, Cliff did say he was getting better at biting. 

\---

Cliff did fulfill Rick’s vampire request, but not without a sly smile about it in the process. That just made Rick refuse to do a test run on it when Cliff got home, so now it was late Halloween afternoon and for the first time, Rick was trying to figure it out as well as trying to do make-up. He gave up on painting his face white when he realized he was having trouble blending, had to wash his face off and just settled for the fake teeth. Sighing after basically accomplishing nothing in about half an hour, he just heads out to meet Cliff in the living room.

“Well, I fucking tried. God-damn m-make-up giving me fits and- no. N-no, no, y-y-you are not going, going l-like that!”

Cliff grinned, standing there in a plain green shirt and brown pants holding Brandy on a leash, and collar made of construction paper around her neck with a big ‘SD’ in a diamond on it. “Why not?”

“First? This is a fucking high class party, like the fucking people I need to network with a-and you show up looking like a bum. Second! No one i-is going to know who the f-fuck you are! Especially since you can’t take Brandy.”

“I called Sharon. Told her Brandy goes with my costume and she said just stay out back with her.”

“Well good, I-I’ll just send you around back.”

“Ah, you’re embarrassed by me over this of all things.”

“Y-yeah, whatever. L-let’s g-go.”

Someone was waiting by the gate to take invitations they assumed, maybe, was Jay’s butler Jay has told them about. They climbed up the driveway, Cliff keeping Brandy in check who was on her best behavior despite the ever growing noise of party music. 

“Hey, Shaggy! Scooby!”

Cliff turned his head and saw Jay coming across the lawn, the biggest grin forming on his face while Rick’s eyes were widening and jaw slowly dropping. “Hey, Fred. Where’s Daphne?”

“In the house somewhere showing Paul off, I’m guessing. And I don’t think I ever met your girl here despite hearing so much about her. Can I pet her?”

Rick didn’t have time to horse around and excused himself to go inside while Jay got down on a knee and gave Brandy some ear scratches. 

“Lovely dog.”

“Thanks.”

“So you, uh- you and Rick finally, umm-”

“Yeah. You and Sharon?”

“I’m trying.”

“Well. Keep at it I guess.”

Even with the broken conversation, Cliff kept alert that hopefully no one overheard that, for both of their sakes. But he got the feeling everyone here could see Jay still loved Sharon, just like it didn’t take Jay long to notice the same thing in Cliff towards Rick. 

“Well I better head back in. There’s some food in the back by the pool if you’re staying out here.” 

“Thanks, Jay.”

There was a decent amount of people out back, but Cliff was able to find a place to sit off to the side. Now and then someone would spot them, put two-and-two together that this was the friend and pitbull from the incident next door and come to chat him up about it. It did start to wear on him once he had the same conversation about half a dozen times. 

Suddenly he saw Rick come from around the corner walking at a rather brisk pace. 

“Fuck. Mc-McQueen just showed up,” Rick whispered harshly as he got closer. 

“Let me guess. He’s dressed as a vampire.” 

“Yes!”

“Oh, shit man, I was joking.”

Rick huffs and sits down next to him. “Gotta o-one up me in e-e-everything.”

“Hey, mind holding Brandy? I should say ‘hi’ to Sharon.”

“Punch McQueen’s lights out while you’re at it.”

Cliff chuckles and heads on in. A few people he recognized despite being in costume but other than that, he was basically an outsider. This wasn’t really his crowd. 

He did spot McQueen chatting it up with someone, and his costume definitely looked custom made instead of store bought. Rick didn’t say if he actually talked to Steve or not, so he best not make waves.

“Cliff! So nice of you and Rick to come!”

Cliff turns around to see Sharon found him first. “Hey, Sharon. Nice Daphne costume.”

“Thank you! I take it you watch Scooby as well?”

“Yeah. Even kinda got Rick to.”

“Oh, what fun! But we might be up too late tonight to watch tomorrow.”

“Yeah, good point.”

“Sharon, baby!”

“Steve!”

Cliff had to suppress himself from smiling when McQueen suddenly came over. “Hey, Steve.”

McQueen looked Cliff over. “Do I know you?”

“Cliff Booth. Rick Dalton’s stunt double.”

“Oh, Rick, is he here?”

Well. It was Halloween after all. Rick could use a trick. “Yeah. Around back.”

“Alright, I better go before it gets too dark.”

Cliff watches McQueen head out back but he knows Rick can’t murder him here; too many witnesses. After a few more exchanges with Sharon, he heads to a food table and piles a couple plates up with Rick’s favorites, waiting until he saw McQueen was back inside before heading back out there.

“You.”

“Me?”

“I know i-it was you who sent him here.”

“Did Brandy like him?”

“Tried to do that clicking sound you make but it a-ain’t w-workin’.”

Cliff gives Rick his offering of sweets on a plate and takes the leash back from him. “Gonna be heading back in then?”

“Nah. If I’m honest, I-I’m getting tired.”

“Don’t look sleepy.”

“Not that kind of tired.”

“Hmm, right. Well, that just means we can wake up early for cartoons in the morning.”

Cliff expected maybe some sort of complaint or protest, but he got none. Maybe Rick was actually starting to enjoy it. 

“Probably can pass on the donuts w-with all the sugar I’m consuming tonight,” Rick finally says with a small smile.

“Ah, there’s those lovely fangs.”

“M-maybe I should go put them to use.”

“Suck McQueen clean dry?”

“Nah, nah. You, however…”

Cliff smirks and as he stands up with Brandy looking like he’s ready to go. “Well then... guess we best be saying goodbye to the hosts now before you drag me back to your lair, huh?”

**Author's Note:**

> If you don’t follow me on twitter, here’s the Cliff!werewolf art challenge I’ll be finishing up later. This is now my biggest contribution to the art side of this fandom and idk how to feel about that. D: https://mobile.twitter.com/wildglitterwolf/status/1299933958407249920


End file.
